We’ve seen the leaks. But now we see the official thing. Samsung has just unveiled the Gear IconX wireless earbuds at an event in New York City this evening, along with the new Gear Fit2 which is the successor to the Gear Fit launched in 2014. However, these aren’t your usual wireless earbuds. These earbuds are able to track fitness data and sync with S Health on your smartphone. The Gear IconX earbuds will track your distance, speed, duration, heart rate and calories burned on your run or your walk. Making little to no reason to pick up a fitness tracker. Even though Samsung did announce a fitness tracker tonight, in the Gear Fit2.
The Gear IconX headphones are completely wireless, and as Samsung states “provides a lightweight, secure and comfortable fit with three different sizes of eartips and wingtips”. They also mention that the headphones will automatically activate when they are placed on the user’s ears. Meaning that you won’t need to long-press a button to turn them on or off. Simply put them in your ears or take them out. As expected with wireless headphones, these connect to your smartphone over Bluetooth. However, there is also some internal storage available, which Samsung quotes as being able to play up to 1,000 MP3s. This means that when you head to the gym, you can leave your phone behind and have your tunes with you, as well as having your workout tracked by the Gear IconX. Speaking of workouts, Samsung has included a Voice Guide here which will provide instant voice feedback to you about your workout progress, in addition to playing your music.
As far as specs go, we’re looking at Bluetooth 4.1, with an accelerometer, heart rate monitor and capacitive touch on the earbuds themselves. Each earbud has a 47mAh battery and the charging case has a 315mAh battery, Samsung expects the battery to last about 3.6 hours on a charge, with the voice guide it’ll drop to 3.4 hours. There are also two microphones in each earbud, so the Gear IconX won’t have any issues hearing what you’re saying. They are also compatible with Android 4.4 KitKat and higher, along with devices that also have at least 1.5GB of RAM.
As far as pricing and availability goes, the Gear IconX will be available in Q3 2016. Pricing is set to be $199, which is right on par with other wireless Bluetooth earbuds. Samsung says that the Gear IconX earbuds address top consumer requests, which the main request is making it easier to incorporate fitness into any lifestyle. Both the Gear IconX and Gear Fit2 are here to complement any users’ fitness style. Whether they are a casual runner, or a marathon runner, both of these products are here to help you out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qto3jm36Tw
